Languages in Contact: The Partial Restructuring of Vernaculars / Edition 1

by John Holm

Overview

Accounting for the structural differences between "non-creole" language varieties (such as African-American English, Afrikaans and Brazilian Vernacular Portuguese) and the European source languages out of which they grew, John Holm argues that these differences resulted from "partial restructuring". Whereas some of the source languages' morphological and syntactic features were retained, a significant number of features from the non-native speakers' languages were also introduced. Holm identifies the linguistic processes leading to partial restructuring, bringing into focus an aspect of contact-induced language change which has previously not been analyzed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521430517
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/18/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

John Holm is Chair, English Linguistics and Director, Graduate Program in Descriptive Linguistics at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Table of Contents

1. Language contact and partial restructuring; 2. Social factors in partial restructuring; 3. The verb phrase; 4. The noun phrase; 5. The structure of clauses; 6. Conclusions.

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a welcome example of scholarship that examines previous opinions in the field and evaluates the evidence for and against positions adopted by other scholars, without theoretical bias or ideological preconceptions. Hence, the book can be recommended to all those whos concerns touch on the broad field of language contact, language shift, and the rise of new varieties and languages." - Raymond Hickey, Essen University

"Holm's book-length study fills a gap. The linguistic phenomenon he discusses was first observed at least 125 years ago, when Schuchardt described certain Indo-Portuguese varieties as Halbkreolisch. It has proven a slippery concept. The existence of semi-creoles has been at various times asserted, doubted, defnded and denied. Collectively, they have never been scrutinized with the kind of attention that Holms brings to them. His work will almost certainly be recognized as definitive." - J.K. Chambers, University of Toronto

From the Publisher